Bistec Encebollado, Platanos, and Tostadas

Today it's time for dinner! The recipe linked at the end of this post lists bistec encebollado as a Cuban dish, but some research led me to discover that most Latin countries have their own variation of it. The same applies to the tostones and platanos maduros - the recipes below are from Dominican and Columbian cooking sites but plantains are served all over Latin American and the Caribbean. All I know is that tostones and platanos maduros are both DELICIOUS and I'm not sure if I've ever gotten food from a Latin restaurant without getting one or both plantain dishes!

Our local grocery store only had yellow plantains so we weren't able to make tostones, but we did make bistec and platanos maduros along with Mexican tostadas. We've never had bistec encebollado and it is a simple recipe but the flavor is amazing!

You can look up a recipe for tostadas but I did not use one. I simply fried some corn tortillas in about a 1/4" of oil until they were crispy and then we topped them with homemade refried beans, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and queso fresco. Squidgy opted out of the lettuce and tomato but he inhaled his tostada and wanted another! I think I'll have to keep both tostadas and bistec encebollado in our regular meal rotation. I hope you try some or all of these recipes!